Vicki Henson, Coordinator of Veterans Affairs at Cameron University, has been elected president of the Western Association of Veterans Education Specialists (WAVES), an organization which serves the needs and interests of veterans, faculties and administrators at institutions of higher education. Henson, who had just completed her term as the organization’s 1st Vice President, was elected during the association’s annual conference in late July and will serve a two-year term. She previously served as the organization’s president from 2007-09.

Henson has served as Cameron’s Coordinator of Veterans Affairs since August 1986. She earned a Bachelor of Science in home economics with a community service emphasis and a Master of Science in Higher Education from Oklahoma State University. She also serves as president of the Oklahoma Association of Veterans Coordinators & Counselors for 2013-14, a post she previously held in 2004-05 and 1989-90.

She is the 2003 recipient of WAVES’ Bill Pearson Lifetime Achievement Award and the 2006 recipient of the WAVES President’s Award, which recognized her dedication and commitment to the organization. Additionally, she was honored with OAVCC’s Marshall Webb Lifetime Achievement Award in 1992.

WAVES serves educational institutions of higher learning and those offering non-college degree programs engaged in the administration of veterans education benefits within the geographic areas served by the U.S. Office of Veterans Affairs Muskogee Regional Processing Office, which processes 48 percent of the national claims for V.A. educational benefit recipients. The territory includes 18 states, the U.S. Trust Territories and The Philippines.